Post-hole digger.



E. E. GOHEEN.

POST HOLE DIGGER. APPLIGATION FILED $111111 22, 1914.

LW9Q Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

@TATEh PATENT @lhhltlhl.

EDWARD E. GOI-IEEN, 0F JACKSONVILLE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB, OF ONEJIALF TO FLETCHER J. BLACKBURN, OF JACKSONVILLE, ILLINOIS.

POST-HOLE BIGGER.

aegan.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

Application fiLed June 22, 1914. Serial No. 846,575.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD E. GoHEEN, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Jacksonville, in the county of Morgan and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Post-Hole D1ggers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a post hole digger, and has for its object to provide asimple and inexpensive device of this character which will be useful for the purpose designed and which can be manipulated in a very convenient and efficient manner. It is proposed to so construct the device that it may be conveniently employed for removing dlrt from a hole as well as for digging the hole, and in this connection it is proposed to so mount the blade upon the handle that the blade may be quickly and conveniently shifted upon its handle from a digging position to a position for removing dirt from the hole, and vice versa, while the blade is in the hole, thereby avoiding the necessity of removing the digger from the hole and going through more or less complicated adjustments to shift the blade from one position to another. While the blade can be .,conveniently shifted While in the hole, by manipulation of the handle only, the blade will be held in each of its positions with sufficient rigidity to permit of the convenient and eiiicient use of the device in digging as well as in removing the diggings from the hole.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described shown in the accompanying drawing and particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that changes in the form, pro portion, size and minor details may be made, within the scope of the claim, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a post hole digger embodying the features of the present invention, the blade being in position for digging. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, a portion of the handle being broken away to show the mounting of the blade. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the device. Fig. 4: is a view showing the blade in position for removing diggings.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each of the figures of the drawing.

In the present embodiment of my invention there have been shown a blade 1 and a handle 2. The blade is of metal and of any preferred size and configuration, the lower edge thereof being relatively sharp and of a configuration to facilitate the use of the device in digging. The handle is preferably of wood and in the form of a substantially cylindrical bar. One end of the handle is provided with a metallic ferrule 3 suitably secured to the handle and projecting longitudinally beyond the end of the handle, said projecting portion of the ferrule being bifurcated, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The blade is provided with a shank 4: preferably integral with the blade and projecting longitudinally from the middle of the back or top edge of the blade. This shank is received within the outer end portion of the bifurcation in the ferrule, and is pivotally connected to the ferrule by a suitable pivot pin 5 passing through the ferrule and the shank of the blade.

Suitably secured within the bifurcation of the ferrule is a leaf spring 6, the outer free end portion of which extends to the outer extremity of the ferrule in position to cooperate with the shank of the blade. The outer extremity 7 of the shank is disposed at substantially right angles to the back 8 of the shank, and these portions 7 and 8 of the shank successively engage the spring in the two different positions of the blade, whereby said blade is held in digging position, as in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, or in position for removing diggings as in Fig. 4.

When the blade is disposed longitudinally of the handle for use as a digger, the back edge of the blade is in substantial engagement with the extremity of the ferrule, and therefore the blade cannot swing backward beyond its longitudinal alinement with the handle.

In order that the blade may be c0nveniently swung from a position longitudinally of the handle to a position transversely thereof, the outer extremity of the ferrule is rounded or beveled as at 9, at what will be termed the front of the ferrule, whereby there will be clearance enough for the back or top edge of the blade in swinging about the pivot pin 5 as a center.

The strength of the spring is such that the blade will be held in its transverse position with sufiicient rigidity to permit of the ploilivenient removal of diggings from the With the blade in the bottom of a hole, and in either of its positions, it may be quickly and conveniently shifted to its other position merely by manipulating the handle. For instance, if the blade is in digging position, the pivotal joint between the blade and the handle may be broken by manipulating the handle in the well-known way to break such joints. On the other hand, should the blade be disposed transversely of the handle, it may be conveniently shifted into digging position by pressing the blade against one side of the hole and lifting upwardly upon the handle so as to break the joint in the other direction. It will now be understood how the blade can be quickly and conveniently shifted from one position to the other while at the bottom of a hole merely by manipulation of the handle.

Having thus described the invention, What of and pivoted in the bifurcation and pro- 1'.

vided with surfaces disposed at substantially right angles to one another, and a leaf spring secured within the bifurcation and having its free extremity disposed for successive engagement by said surfaces of the shank, and said shank being free to ride upon the spring under relative movements of the members in shifting the blade from one of its positions to another, the back edge of the blade lying in substantial engagement with the adjacent end of the handle in the longitudinal disposition of the blade, and the end of the handle being beveled at its front side to accommodate the back edge of the blade in swinging about its pivotal connection with the handle.

In testnnony whereof I afiix my s1gnature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD E. GOHEEN.

Witnesses:

NORMAL KUYKENDALL, EDWARD P. BROCKHOUSE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

